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Interviews | June 19, 2009

Dave: IMG Jim Lynch Makes Landscape Art... Out of Text



jimlynchIf Carl Hiaasen set one of his novels on a residential stretch of boundary line between British Columbia and Washington, or if Richard Russo's characters had relatives in the Pacific Northwest, the result might be something like Jim Lynch's Border Songs. Continue »
  1. $18.16 Sale Hardcover add to wish list

    Border Songs

    Jim Lynch

My Life in France

by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme

My Life in France Cover

Staff Pick

An inspiring look at the life and times of the culinary genius, Julia Child's My Life in France is a good-humored memoir of her influential and transformative early experiences in France with her then new husband, Paul. Julia's devotees, as well as those less familiar, will equally enjoy the wit of her storytelling, and her gift for describing a great meal.
Recommended by Chandler, Powells.com

Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"[A] delightful and ebulliently written new memoir....The result is a tone that is pure Julia. One can almost hear her unforgettably fluty voice uttering such Julia-isms as 'ta-da!' 'ouf!' and 'phooey!' throughout the book. Her joy just about jumps off the book's pages....Julia Child was a natural teacher, and My Life in France makes that abundantly clear." Jennifer Wolcott, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire CSM review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In her own words, here is the captivating story of Julia Child's years in France, where she fell in love with French food and found "her true calling."

From the moment the ship docked in Le Havre in the fall of 1948 and Julia watched the well-muscled stevedores unloading the cargo to the first perfectly soigné meal that she and her husband, Paul, savored in Rouen en route to Paris, where he was to work for the USIS, Julia had an awakening that changed her life. Soon this tall, outspoken gal from Pasadena, California, who didn't speak a word of French and knew nothing about the country, was steeped in the language, chatting with purveyors in the local markets, and enrolled in the Cordon Bleu.

After managing to get her degree despite the machinations of the disagreeable directrice of the school, Julia started teaching cooking classes herself, then teamed up with two fellow gourmettes, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to help them with a book they were trying to write on French cooking for Americans. Throwing herself heart and soul into making it a unique and thorough teaching book, only to suffer several rounds of painful rejection, is part of the behind-the-scenes drama that Julia reveals with her inimitable gusto and disarming honesty.

Filled with the beautiful black-and-white photographs that Paul loved to take when he was not battling bureaucrats, as well as family snapshots, this memoir is laced with wonderful stories about the French character, particularly in the world of food, and the way of life that Julia embraced so wholeheartedly. Above all, she reveals the kind of spirit and determination, the sheer love of cooking, and the drive to share that with her fellow Americans that made her the extraordinary success she became.

Le voici. Et bon appétit!

Review:

"Like a surprise nougat bursting from the center of a chocolate truffle, My Life in France also serves up her moving romance with the Renaissance man of her life...her husband, Paul Child." Andrew Marton, The Philadelphia Inquirer

Review:

"In mouth-watering detail, her learning years in Paris and the stellar career that followed." Meeta Agrawal, Life Magazine

Review:

"Captures her charm, warmth, and, above all, her determined and robust spirit....Anyone who has heard her on television will immediately recognize the frank, jovial, and embracing tone." John Skoyles, The Seattle Times/Associated Press

Review:

"What a joy...charming...inspiring." Jennifer Reese, Entertainment Weekly

Synopsis:

Exuberant, affectionate, and boundlessly charming ("The New York Times"), this is the delightful and highly acclaimed memoir from the woman who revolutionized American cooking in the 20th century.

About the Author

Julia Child was born in Pasadena, California. She was graduated from Smith College and worked for the OSS during World War II in Ceylon and China, where she met Paul Child. After they married they lived in Paris, where she studied at the Cordon Bleu and taught cooking with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she wrote the first volume of Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961). In 1963, Boston's WGBH launched The French Chef television series, which made her a national celebrity, earning her the Peabody Award in 1965 and an Emmy in 1966. Several public television shows and numerous cookbooks followed. She died in 2004.

Alex Prud'homme, Paul Child's grandnephew, is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and other publications. He is the author of The Cell Game and the coauthor (with Michael Cherkasky) of Forewarned. He lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
PETER TEIMAN CLARK, November 19, 2007 (view all comments by PETER TEIMAN CLARK)
Hi,PETER TEIMAN CLARK here,
How early life experiences molds the future person. well worth reading.
Thanks,
PETER TEIMAN CLARK
Sweden

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(13 of 22 readers found this comment helpful)
Leslie Joseph, August 15, 2007 (view all comments by Leslie Joseph)
Possibly the closest thing to the now impossible experience of being in France and listening Julia Child speaks of her life...

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(14 of 28 readers found this comment helpful)
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780307277695
Publisher:
Anchor Books
Subject:
History
With:
Prud'homme, Alex
Author:
Prud'homme, Alex
Author:
Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
Author:
Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme
Author:
Child, Julia
Subject:
Cooking
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Publication Date:
October 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
352
Dimensions:
8.02x5.29x.73 in. .79 lbs.

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